Retractable support for flatirons



0- w. H. GINDER 2,185,915

RETRACTABLE SUPPORT FOR FLATIRONS Filed Feb. 21, 1936 Patented Jan. 2, 1940 UNITED STATES v 2.185.915 ammo-rantssurronrr roa rm'rmons William H. Ginder, Haddonfleld, N. J., assignor to Proctor & Schwartz, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania I Application February 21, 1936, Serial N'o. 65,139

8 Claims.

This invention relates to devices for supporting a fiat-iron away from an operating surface whenever the iron is not being used. The principal object of the invention is to provide an improved device of this character embodying certain novel features,which render the device a marked im-- provement over prior devices of the same class.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this nature wherein the supporting means is contained within a recess or housing at the rear of the iron during periods of non-use of the supporting device, thereby improving the appearance of the iron and positioning the supporting means in a manner such that it will not interfere with the normal functioning or use of the iron. I

A further object of the invention is to provide a fiat iron supporting device comprising a plurality of arms which are movable foldably into a transverse-position at the rear of the iron and which are movable extendibly into longitudinal position beneath the iron to serve as a support therefor.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear hereinafter. The invention may be clearly.

understood by reference to the accompanying drawing illustrating a specific embodiment of the device.

In the drawing: Fig. l is a side elevational view of a flat-iron embodying the invention, certain parts being shown in section for the purposes of illustration;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2' of Fig. 1;

' Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the ironsupporting mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a detail view of a part of the actuating mechanism for. the device; and

Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of certain parts of the supporting device.

Referring first to Fig. 1, there is shown a fiatiron comprising, as usual, a sole plate I, a cover 2, front and rear legs 3 and 4, respectively, ex-

tending upward from the cover and supporting fully explained later.

are provided at the rear of the sole plate I a pair of similar members 8 (see Fig. 5), these members preferably being seated within a recess 9 provided in the rear portion of the sole plate. The members 8 may be secured to the sole plate in any suitable manner, for example, by means of screws H! (see Fig. 3). As shown clearly in 5, each of the members 8 comprises an ex-- tending bifurcated bearing block II which is adapted to rotatably hold an end portion of a transverse shaft l2, the shaft being held in place by pins I3a (see Fig. 3) passing through the holes I3. Thus, the shaft I2 is transversely disposed at the rear of the iron and is rotatably mounted in the bearing blocks I I.

Each of the members 8 also comprises a curved cam element I4 having a cam slot l5 therein. At its upper, end, the slot l5 extends transversely inward, as shown clearly at I 6.

The iron-supporting device further comprises a pair of L-shaped arms H which are normally disposed in folded transverse position within the hood 6, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The end portions of these arms adjacent the iron are rotatably carried at the ends of shaft l2. As

shown in Fig. 5, eachend of shaft I2 is formed having a flat surface, the purpose of which will appearlater. At the end of-the arm ii, there is provided a small crank 23 including a pin 24.

The pin 24 seats in slot lb of the cam element l4 and is adapted to ride in the slot, as will be more At its central portion, the shaft I2 is provided with a crank arm 25 (see Fig. 4) to which there is attached an actuating arm 26 by means of a bifurcated yoke element 21., Thus, arm 26 is pivotally attachedto crank 25 at 28 (see Fig. 4). The rear leg 4 is hollow andthe arm 26 extends upwardly therethrough, as shown in Fig. 1, and is attached to the rear end of a lever 29. The handle 5 is hollow and the lever 29 extends therethrough and is pivotally mounted at 30. The front end of lever 29 is formed so as to be engageable by the nose 3| of a pivoted actuating device 32 having a finger portion 33. The device 32 is pivotally mounted at 34. A coil spring 35 is also housed within" the rear leg 4 and has one end fastened at 38 to a turned-up lug on the cover, 5

while the opposite end of the spring is attached at 31 to the rear end of lever 29. I

It will be seen that spring 35 urges the lever 29 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1. In this manner, the spring acts through arm 26 and crank to maintain shaft l2 in'a position'such that the supporting arms I! are maintained in inoperative position, as shown, within the hood 6. With the parts in this condition, the iron is used in the normal manner When it is desired to use the supporting device, pressure is applied to the finger portion 33 of the actuating device 32, thus moving the lever 29 in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, against the action of spring 35. This causes the arm 26 to be pulled upward and the crank 25 therefore rotates shaft l2 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1. As the shaft l2 rotatesgit carries arms I! with it and, therefore, the crank pins 24 are caused to move in the stationary slot IS. The pins 24 ride upward through the curved slots until they reach the transverse portions l6 of the slots. At such time, the slots cam the cranks 23, the pins 23 moving into the transverse slot portions. l9,-thus causing rotation of the small cranks 23 andeflecting rotary movement of the arms I! relative to shaft [2. The free end portions of arms II are thus moved from their folded positionsshown to the positions illustrated in broken-line representation in Fig. 1. Thus, in their operative positions, the arms I! are disposed longitudinally of'the iron and below the same and are adapted to support the iron in well-known'manner. The arms H are preferably arranged so that they extend at a slight angle relative to the iron, so that the iron is slightly tilted upward, toward its front end when the arms I! rest on a horizontal surface.

- It will be seen that there are two distinct movements of the arm I! involved in the operation of the mechanism, The arms are movable bodfly about the axis of shaft l2 as a pivot to swing the arms in an are from the horizontal position shown in Fig. 1 and, at the same time, the arms are movable rotatably with respect to shaft l2 to move their free ends from the folded position to the extended operative position.

When the supporting device moves to operative position as above described, the flat extensions 22 engage the rear part of the sole plate and serve to brace the device and to distribute the strain due to the weight of the supported iron. As long as the iron rests upon the extended supporting arms, the device is prevented from moving to inoperative position. In other words, the weight of the iron maintains the supporting arms in their operative positions against the action of spring 35. As soon as the iron is lifted, however, the spring 35 causes the parts to return to the position shown in a manner which will be obvious from the above description. Thus, the supporting arms I! are moved automatically to inoperative position within the hood 6 upon the mere lifting of the iron. The actuating device 32 is used only to move the supporting arms to operative position, as above described.

From the illustration and above description, it will be seen that the supporting arms are disposed at the rear of the iron when the supp rting device is not being used, so that this device can in no way interfere with the use and functioning of the iron. Furthermore, it will be seen that the supporting device is invisible when in its inoperative condition, so that it does not detract from the appearance of the iron. It will be understood, of course, that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiment illustrated but is capable of various modifications without de; parting from its scope.

I claim:

1. In combination with a flat-iron having an ironing surface, supporting means carried by the iron comprising arms movable into inoperative position transversely of the iron above the plane of said ironing surface and into operative position longitudinally of the iron below the plane of said ironing surface, and manually operable means for actuating said supporting means.

'2. In combination with a flat-iron having an ironing surface, supporting means carried by the iron comprising arms movable into inoperative able into said hood into crossed relation and movable out of the hood into extended cooperative relation, and manually operable means for actuating said supporting means.

4. In combination with a flat-iron having an ironing surface, a downwardly opening hood carried by the flat-iron above the plane of said ironing surface, supporting means carried by the iron comprising arms movable into inoperative position transversely of the iron within said hood and into operative position longitudinally of the iron below the plane of said ironing surface, and

manually operable means for actuating said supporting means.

5. In combination with a fiat-iron having an ironing surface, supporting means carried by the iron movable into inoperative position transversely of the iron above the plane of said ironing surface and into operative position longitudinally of the iron below the plane of said ironing surface, and manually operable means for actuating said supporting means.

6. In combination with a flat-iron having an ironing surface, supporting means for the iron, comprising a transverse rotatable shaft carried at the rear of said iron and a pair of arms extending transversely of said shaft and having portions rotatably disposed on axes transverse with respect to that of the shaft, whereby the arms are rotatable with the shaft and are also, rotatable relative to the shaft, said arms being bent to provide angularly extending feet portions, means for rotating said shaft, and means for causing rotary movement of said arms relative to said shaft when the shaft is rotated, said means being arranged and adapted to move said feet portions into inoperative position transversely of the iron above the plane of saidironing surface and into operative position longitudinally of the iron below the plane of said ironing surface.

'7. In combination with a flat-iron having an ironing surface, supporting means for the iron, comprising a transverse rotatable shaft carried at the rear of said iron and a pair of arms extending transversely of said shaft and having portions rotatably disposed in transverse openings of the shaft, whereby the arms are rotatable with the shaft and are also rotatable relative to the shaft, said arms being bent in a substantially right angular form to provide feet portions,

2,185,015 means. for rotating said shaft, a crank carriedby each of said arms, and stationary cam means cooperatively associated with each said crank to rotate said arms relative to said shaft when the shaft is rotated, said cam means being arranged and adapted to move said feet portions into inoperative position transversely of the iron above the plane of said ironing surface and into operative position longitudinally of the iron below theplane of said ironing surface.

8. In combination witha fiat-iron having an ironing surface, a downwardly opening hood car-' ried by said iron at the rear thereof, supporting means for the iron, comprising a transverse rotatable shaft mounted within said hoodand a pair of arms extending transversely of said shaft and having portions rotat'ably disposed on axes transverse with respect to that of the shaft,

whereby the arms are rotatable with the shaft and are also rotatable relative to the shaft, said arms being bent in a substantially right angular form to provide feet portions, means for rotating said shaft, a crank carried by each of said arms, and cam means cooperatively associated with each said crank to rotate said arms relativeto said shaft when the shaft is rotated with respect to the cam means, said cam means.

being arranged and adapted to move said feet portions into inoperative position transversely of the iron above the plane of said ironing surface and into operative position longitudinally of the iron below the plane of said ironing surface.

WILLIAM H. GINDER. 

